


We've Got Nothing to Prove

by definitelynotafan



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Basically no one is straight in this I'm not sorry, Harry and Louis go through the motions of figuring out your sexuality, Harry and Louis meet at a party, Harry has no tattoos, M/M, No Angst, Parties, Recreational Drug Use, Very Minor, but everyone is accepting, there is one mention of the word 'queer' used as a slur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-07-16 11:14:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7265899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definitelynotafan/pseuds/definitelynotafan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Harry Styles is competitive - that's a fact. He can't stand to lose, and will always do everything in his power to win. Even if he's been dared to make out with the popular footie player, Louis Tomlinson, in a game of gay-chicken, Harry refuses to be beaten.</p><p>(or, Harry and Louis meet at a UNI party during a game of gay-chicken. If they seem to run into each other everywhere after their drunken make-out session, neither of them seem to be complaining.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [1D_Hiatus_Prompt_Meme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/1D_Hiatus_Prompt_Meme) collection. 



> So, first of all, a big thank you to whoever signed up that prompt. I really hope you like what I did with it. I had a lot of fun writing it and it got me a bit out of my writing slump. 
> 
> Thank you also to the people who supported me while I was writing by encouraging me to write more. Special thanks to Marcela who technically was my first reader when I was about to give because I thought what I had written was stupid. I continued only because she liked it.
> 
> Also, this work is not complete yet. University got in the way and I couldn't finish it quite yet. But I will. I'll post a chapter every two weeks, so please be patient with me. 
> 
> Lastly, thank you to all my reader, I love every single one of you. Please leave kudos/comments to let me know what you think about it.  
> In case anyone wants to contact me:  
> Tumbr: definitely-not-a-fan.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: @definitelynofan
> 
> Thank you for reading this, all the love. x

Harry Styles is drunk – very drunk. He does not really remember whose house it is that he is currently in. When he had arrived it had been much nice than his dorm room and he had envied the guy living here. Now? Not so much. Empty cups and bottles litter the floor of every room, on the couches countless of ominous stains have appeared and Harry does not want to see the state that the bedrooms are in. He had gotten a peak into one an hour ago, it was enough for him to decide no matter what, he is not getting laid tonight in one of those rooms. Not that this had been his plan for the evening anyway. But this was university and you never know, do you?

His first day had been rather dull, though. He had not met his roommate yet (the guy did not show up) and after exploring the surroundings for a bit on his own (three coffee shops, two used bookshops, one vegan snack bar and one pool) he had found himself getting ready for this party. Liam Payne, a friend from home, had texted him this morning telling him about it. _Everyone will be there._ Liam had wanted to meet up there but after a quick “Hey man, how’s it going?” he had disappeared again. Harry had spent the evening getting drunk and chatting to various people, even exchanging numbers with a few of them. That’s one of Harry’s best qualities – making friends everywhere he goes. It never takes long for him to attract a crowd around him and he absolutely loves meeting new people. The free alcohol makes it even easier. Maybe he should have stopped sooner but oh well, it was Saturday, he will have the whole Sunday to cure his hangover until classes start on Monday morning. Harry vaguely remembers that his first class would start at 8am already and had something to do with writing. As an English major it was a compulsory class and since it was not a lecture attendance was mandatory. At least one of the coffee shops was on his way to the building. It had been a shock to find out the dorm room had been too small to even fit in an electric kettle. The room consist only of two beds, pushed all the way to the walls on either side of the door and one big desk with two chairs straight ahead. Left and right of the door two very small closets are placed. Good thing Harry had only brought as little clothes with him as he did. He just barely managed to fit everything in this morning. Since he had been the first one to arrive, the privilege of choosing a side had fallen to him. Harry had chosen left. His laptop and the rest of his stuff for class were now cluttering the left side of the desk on which someone had drawn a crooked line in black sharpie down the middle. Bad roommate? Harry had laughed at it for a moment before praying that it would never come to this between him and his roommate. Whenever the guy decides to show up.

The living room had been declared the dancefloor by the organiser of the party, or so it seems. All movable furniture had been cleared out or pushed up against one of the walls and someone had found it funny to hang a small, makeshift disco ball made out of what looks like aluminium foil. Most of the lightbulbs had been changed for UV light lightbulbs while the rest had been dimmed. Someone had been very creative it seems. Some kind of club music that Harry does not recognise is playing and people are dancing along to it, many of them spilling the drinks they are clutching in their hands. Not knowing what else to do, Harry joins the dancing crowd. He spots one of the girls he had been talking to earlier – Eleanor, was it not? – and decides to just dance up to her. Not to hit on her but she seems nice enough and he liked their conversation earlier.

“Oh, it’s you again. Hi, Harry.” She shouted over the music.

“Hi.”

“You’re a brilliant dancer.” Eleanor giggled.

“You wish you were as good as me.” Harry shoves her playfully before continuing his dancing.

Okay, maybe what Harry is doing should not be considered dancing exactly. It is more like he is shaking his whole body while flailing his limbs but it is fun so, sue him. Harry takes a look around but resumes his movements after no one seems to care about him. After a while, Eleanor even copies his moves and they have a great laugh about it.

“How do you like the party so far, Harry?”

“I’m pretty smashed to be honest so pretty good I’d say. Though I’ve lost my only friend.” He thinks about his answer for a second before adding. “Wait, that sounds pathetic. I lost the only friend I have here at uni. I have other friends. Loads of them actually. Back at home. You know…”

 “I figured that’s what you meant.” Eleanor giggles. “So, who is this mysterious friend of yours? Maybe I can help you find them? Another first year student?”

“Liam.” Harry says, then remembering that Liam is actually a rather common name. “Liam Payne. It’s his second year actually. He is–”

“He’s on the football team right? Something with right wing attack?”

“Yeah something like that. I have no idea about the game actually. He is kicking the ball a lot.”

“I haven’t even seen him at the party, sorry. Maybe upstairs? Have you checked the bedrooms?”

“No thank you, I’m not gonna go knocking on bedroom doors. I guess if he did get lucky, he should have his fun without me interrupting him already on my first night here.”

“You are a good friend, Harry.” Eleanor slings her arm around Harry’s waist and leans into him for a moment. “You also have a very narrow waist.”

Harry eyes her for a moment before he lets out a chuckle. “Yeah I do.” He leans down to whisper in her ear without being overheard. “I’m wearing women’s jeans right now.”

The hand leaves his waist and instead smacks him on the back of the head.

“Oi, clothes don’t have genders. There is no such thing as ‘women’s jeans’.” Eleanor’s fingers form quotation marks in the air. “There are too many unnecessarily gendered things on the market and there is absolutely no reason for it. Why can’t we all wear whatever the fuck we want?”

She is weaving her arms around in order to emphasise her words and in the process managing to knock someone’s drink out of their hand and onto the person.

“Shit.” She yells and immediately starts looking around. “That’s wine. If we don’t clean the shirt right away it’ll leave a stain.” Her head turns back towards the owner of the drink and shirt in question. “I’m so so sorry. Come on, let’s go find a bathroom and wash it out.”

The only thing Harry knows about getting stains out of clothing is what his mother taught him and Eleanor seems to be in control of the situation, still he asks whether he should come with them and help.

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage.” She smiles at him. “I’ll probably leave afterwards anyway, it’s getting rather later so, I hope we can hang out some time? You have my number. And you can bring Liam.”

Harry says his goodbyes as Eleanor leaves the living room, leaving him on his own once again. Maybe he should just head home too. It is almost 2 am he notices after checking his phone. He was drunk enough already and if he was honest he was done with meeting new people. He just wants to find Liam.

After wandering the halls for a bit Harry stops in front of the first floor balcony. Through the open door Harry smells the distinct scent of smoke and weed. Smiling to himself for a bit he walks outside, only shivering slightly in the cool September air, the alcohol giving him the illusion of warmth. In one corner of the balcony a group people are standing in a small circle and in the faint light provided by the night sky the only thing that Harry can make out clearly is the orange glowing tip of the joint that is being passed around. The group is talking in hushed voices and it takes Harry a while before he makes out Liam’s voice. Hm. This is a surprise.

“Liam?”

“Harry, there you are. I was looking for you but then I found these people.” Liam giggles.

“I thought you didn’t do weed? Aren’t all football players prohibited from… how did you phrase it… _doing anything fun_?”

This is Liam’s second year at university and also his second year on the football team. Between the two of them Liam had always been the more active one and apparently he had been good enough to be on the team. Harry enjoys the occasional kick around between friends but he had never been able to coordinate his limbs well enough to pass as a player. It never was his dream anyway.

“The season doesn’t start until term starts so technically, I’m not on the team yet.” Harry cannot find fault with his reasoning, he actually agrees.

“You’d be a kickass lawyer, Li.” Harry laughs and joins the group. “Can I get a drag?”

“Sure. Let me introduce you first.” He steps back a bit to let Harry into the circle. “This is Zayn, one of my roommates this year.” He points to guy cheekbones that could cut diamond and hair that seems to be dyed some shade of pink at the tips. A brilliant smile lights up the guy’s face as he mumbles a quick “Hi.”

“Don’t worry, Z is always this quiet but you should hear him sing, voice like angel. He is a vocal major with the Royal Academy of Music. Can you believe it?”

All of this means nothing to Harry but he tries his best anyway to look impressed. It seems to be a pretty big deal.

“Okay, that’s Ed. He’s throwing the party by the way.”

“Nice house. Thanks for the party.”

“Oh, it was a nice house alright. I can’t believe I let myself get talked into throwing them every time. It’s always a massacre and you lot never help me clean up.” Ed says it all with a smile on his face and absolutely no anger in his voice. With a laughter he adds “I’m glad you enjoy it so much because I’m pretty sure this is the last one.”

“Yeah and Louis will pass the literature exam this semester.” Liam says and the everyone around starts laughing. Harry feels a bit left out on the joke be he does not question it.

The other two guys of the group are introduced as James and Thomas. The weed apparently belongs to James but he does not show any displeasure at the thought of sharing with Harry. Harry even offers to give him money for it. He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. Some other time.” They finish the joint and then another one. At some point they sit down with their backs leaning against the wall of the handrail. They chat about all and nothing for a while before they get into a discussion about literature. To support his argument Harry gets up and starts walking up and down in front of them, swinging his hips left and right with each step. The guys start giggling in front of Harry. He has forgotten about the argument and just keeps sauntering up and down as if he were one of the top models on a catwalk. Liam and his friends are cracking up as if Harry was the funniest thing they have ever seen.

“And I thought Louis has a gay walk” Liam comments after a while.

Even through his haze Harry vaguely feels offended at that comment.

“Heeey, there is no ‘gay’ walk. Gay is not an insult, you know.”

“He’s right, they both have a flamboyant walk.” James or Thomas – Harry doesn’t know – says. At least someone supports him.

“I’m not using it as an insult but they are the gayest straight men that I know. They should make out.”

Even though it seems like Liam was more talking to himself than anything, the other guys burst out laughing again. One of them looks at Harry for a moment before his face lights up as if he just had the greatest idea in the history of mankind.

“Harry, how about you and Louis play a round of gay chicken. Let’s settle this debate then.”

Gay chicken is something that Harry is familiar with, even if he had never ‘played’ it. The rules were simple. Two straight guys lean in as if they were about to kiss, the one that pulls away first loses. If neither of them pulls away before their lips touch the kiss continues until one of them does end it or the people around decide they have seen enough and declare both of them a winner. It was one of the more stupid party games but Harry had seen it being played as a dare a number of times and not once had there been a kiss. One of them always pulled away.

“Oh. That’s a great idea. I’ll call Louis, she should be here somewhere.”

“Liam!”

Harry has absolutely no problem with two guys kissing, he just does not want to be one of them. At the same time his brain tells him that he would not be the first one to pull away. Not because he wanted to kiss, whoever this Louis guy is but because if there was one word to describe Harry it would have to be ‘competitive’ and he would not let some random guy win anything if he could help it. That the debate was about who of them was “more gay” was besides the point. Harry always feels the need to win.

Liam takes out his phone and rapidly types away, texting this Louis probably. At this point all Harry knows about the guy is that he has a feminine walk and never passed his lit classes. He does not know what to expect but if he is taking literature classes he must be some form of a language major. Maybe he could give Harry some tips? If he was being honest with himself, he is scared shitless about starting classes on Monday. It’s his first time away from home and already he is missing his family like crazy. The night before he was lying awake thinking about all the different classes he needs to pass and how different everything was compared to school. What if everyone would be better than him? What if he would never make friends? So far he only knows Liam. Harry doesn’t even know if his roommate would even show up. He also remembered a nightmare he had a couple of days ago in which his roommate had been a complete twat who had not cared about Harry and had been playing loud metal music until 4am. Harry knows that he could have roomed with Liam, Liam had asked him many times but Liam also wanted to room with his old roommates and Harry was not ready to live with Liam and two strangers. The three of them must be a pretty tight group if they decided to stick together and he was not sure whether he wanted to be third, or rather forth wheel to this group. There is also a small part of Harry that needs to prove that he could do this all on his own. He does not want to rely on anyone. His sister had done it all on her own, so why should he not be able to do it? Maybe it is the same part of him that want him to win this stupid game now.

“Louis is on his way up.” Liam announces seconds later and the guys start a new round of giggling. Harry would have to lie if he says that he is not feeling a little bit giggly himself. Part of it must be the weed but he also wants to find out whoever Louis is. It’s not every day that you meet someone who apparently does not give a shit about being flamboyant and feminine. Harry did get his fair share of bullying when he had started to grow his hair out almost two years ago. People at school where calling him all sorts of slurs and insults just because they thought he looked ‘like a girl’. Combine his long locks with his love for floral shirts he never bothered to button up and quickly people were assuming that he was gay. “Let them.” Had been his attitude towards it. The people that cared about him, knew him and he had quickly learned to ignore the rest. He had felt more comfortable with himself than he had ever before and that was the only thing that counted. Maybe Louis was like him, maybe they could become friends. Or maybe the weed was making him feel needy. It seems like just minutes ago Harry had been ready to go home and not spend another minute making nice with people he might not even see again. How Ed knows all those different people is beyond Harry. Throughout the evening he had met all sorts of people with different majors, hobbies and interest. Some had graduated and were working, others had been first year university students like himself. The music that is playing in the living room is changing genres every other minute and Harry was sure right now he could hear some piece of classical music being played. University parties sure are different from what Harry is used to.

Harry does not know what he had expected Louis to look like but he was sure this was not what he had had in his mind. The first thing that Harry notices as Louis saunters up to them is how short he is. And how curvy he is for a guy. Just like Harry he is wearing black skinny jeans but unlike Harry Louis is wearing a simple white shirt that snugly clung to his torso. Even in the dim light coming from the fairy lights on the balcony Harry sees the outline of dark tattoos on Louis’s chest, some kind of writing. Louis had the sleeves of his shirt pushed up to his elbow, showing over another set of tattoos.

Harry had always been impressed by tattoos had been planning on getting one ever since he was younger. There is something immensely aesthetically pleasing for him about them. He would deny it if you would ever ask him but Harry’s guilty pleasure is his secret Pinterest account that he uses to look up pictures of tattoos and for getting inspiration. Seeing Louis all covered in black ink sparks his interest about the guy even more.

“Alright, Liam. That the guy who’s supposed to be more flamboyant than me?” Louis jerks his head in Harry’s direction.

Harry lazily lifts his hand in greeting before going back to checking Louis out. In a competitive way of course. He focuses on Louis’ face for a moment, taking in the stubble on his chin, the curve of his lips and a small cluster of three freckles on his right cheek. The lights make it hard to tell but Harry would swear that the peachy colouring of Louis’ eyelids was not naturally but actually eyeshadow. Just a trace of it to make Louis’ blue eyes pop. Makeup on guys is actually more common than anyone thinks. Harry would know, he has that one pink lipstick he uses for special occasions. Louis has his hair styled into a perfect mess that looks like he just had someone run their hands through his hair, ruffling the fringe into the feathery state it is in now.  In his head, Harry imagines some girl walking up to Louis, pushing him up against a wall before devouring him, letting her hands roam free in his hair. Harry had always been a horny drunk, maybe that’s why images of Louis pressed up against a wall are floating around in his head. Or, he could just blame it on the weed. It had been a while since he last had smoked and who knows what kind of stuff it had been. Things might be a bit different in London.

“Harry.” Louis says in lieu of greeting, his accent softening the word, making it sound more like _Harreh._

“Louis.” Harry answers, trying to keep the smile from his face.

The scene is kind of ridiculous if Harry is being honest. He is being dared to a game of gay chicken at his first university party. Is this normal? Should he be worried?

“That is a nice shirt, Harry, very _colourful_. But you’ve seem to have missed a few buttons there.” Louis flashes him a grin.

“Thanks, I like …” Harry pauses for a moment. “Um… you know.”

Louis simply walks up to Harry, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He is standing in front of Harry now, looking up at him with a grin still on his lips.

“Pretty shit at comebacks, are ya?”

“You’re kind of short.” The moment the words leave his mouth Harry knows he has fucked up. Not saying anything would have been better than that. The way Louis snorts is proof enough.

“First of all, ouch that really hurt my masculinity – oh wait, that’s right, I don’t care about that. And secondly” He raises one eyebrow suggestively “Not everything about me is short.”

When Harry does not react the way Louis wants him to, he pouts.

“Oh c’mon. That one was kinda obvious.”

Harry has to give him that one.

“Yeah you’re right.”

“I actually do like your shirt.” A peace offering.

They probably would continue in a similar fashion but just as Harry was about to say something, Liam coughed to let them know about his presence. Harry kind of had forgotten where he is for a moment. Something about the way Louis talked draws him in. Not just what he had said but also the way he had said it – his voice loud and powerful – or the way he is standing in front of Harry with his legs spread just a bit wider than anyone else would. It makes him seem bigger. Not taller, he but bigger in the sense that he draws your attention at him on purpose. There was no way anyone could overlook Louis. He simply is _there._ Harry makes a mental note never to piss Louis off. There is something about him that gives Harry the feeling that no one would win an argument against Louis. Louis would never back down from his opinion, he would never give in for the sake of keeping things comfortable. Louis is the kind of guy that shows up at your front door after you hang up on him during a fight, just so he can finish yelling at you.

“I don’t think I need to introduce the two of you. Thanks for showing up on such a short notice Louis.”

“Mate, you do know that I already was at the party, right? We’ve talked.” Louis shakes his head. “How much have you had?”

“I meant showing up on the balcony. For this important decision. And I might have gotten a few drags off James’ spliff.”

Louis’ is pouting again. Something about the way he does it makes Harry think of a stubborn toddler that does not get his wish.

“Aw, and you didn’t call me earlier? You’re a bad friend Liam.”

“Sorry, next time then.”

“Sure. So, why am I here exactly? You told me Harry here is challenging my reputation. What do you expect me to do about it?”

Liam and the guys snigger while Harry just looks at them. He does not know what to do.

“Well, the guys and I have wondered, between you and Harry who would win a round of gay chicken. Harry has already agreed to do it.”

Harry throws Louis a sheepish grin. “Technically I didn’t agree. I said nothing. Then you showed up.”

“Tiny detail. Now that both of you are here I dare you two to play. I’m assuming you both are familiar with the rules?”

“Oh I’m a champ at the game.” Louis grins.

“Kissed a lot of guys then?” Harry asks, curiosity getting the better of him. He is just figuring out his competitor he tells himself.

“No, they all pulled away first. I won every single game.”

“How do we do this then?”

Maybe if Harry were sober the idea of maybe kissing a guy to prove he is the gayest straight guy would seem like a really stupid idea. Why would he even want the title? This is his first day at university, does he really want to be the guy that kissed some other guy on a dare? He would probably see those guys again; they are Liam’s friends just like him.

~~~

Harry stumbles up the stairs in his dorm building. His head has begun to hurt an hour ago and he is not quite sure how he got home. His phone is vibrating in his pocket but he knows that he does not need to bother with it. His vision is too blurry in order for him to read anything.

~~~

 _Stupid jeans._ It takes Harry several tries to get out of his jeans and he falls down a lot. So much so that he decides that he will just keep the rest of his clothes on. There is still no sigh of his roommate, his phone is still vibrating every once in a while.

~~~

_Sleeeeeeeeep._


	2. Chapter 2

A loud noise wakes Harry the next morning. His mouth tastes like stale smoke and morning breath, his head is pounding and he is still wearing yesterday’s shirt and pants. A hazy memory comes back to him of trying to get his clothes off without falling down. He must have given up at some point. Even with his eyes still closed he can tell that it is impossibly bright in the room. Has someone switched on the light? What time is it? And what is all this noise? With great force Harry manages to open his eyes, using his hand as a shield against the bright light that seems to be coming from over his head. He still needs to squint through his eyes. Only after having a look around the room does Harry see the figure leaning over the bed on the opposite side of the room. For a moment Harry’s heart rate picks up before he remembers where he is.

“Who are you?” He asks, the first thing that comes to his mind; he has pretty good guess already.

“Oh, you’re awake. I’m Niall. Harry, I presume?” the guy turns to face Harry with a bright smile on his face. His hair is a bright blonde with just an inch of dark roots showing. Harry’s first thought is that that guy is the personification of the sun. Pale skin, blonde hair and a smile that lights up his whole face, making his eyes crinkle just the tinniest bit. God, Harry must still be a little bit drunk. How much did he have yesterday?

“’m Harry, yeah.”

“Great, I’m your roommate. I should have been here yesterday already but I missed the train. Was out with me mates on Friday … was still at the pub when I should have been at the train station.”

Harry looks at Niall for a moment before the string of words that had been hurled at him at fast speed with an Irish accent make sense in his head. It is too early for him.

“Are you always this … talkative in the morning?” He asks then. It would be a long semester if his roommate would chatter at a speed of 7 words per second every morning, practically still the middle of the night. Harry considers everything to be the middle of the night that happens before he has had this first cup of tea.

“Mate, it’s noon.” Niall laughs. “I take it you’ve been out yesterday?”

“Shit, noon?”

With a jolt Harry sits up straight in his bed. A very bad idea, as it turns out, his stomach knotting in protest. _Please don’t throw up._ Harry wills his body to fight the wave of nausea. If he has to live with this guy for the course of the whole year, he does not want the first meeting to be the time he throws up all over the room. Why did he had so much to drink at the party? He should have just gone home earlier.

“You alright there? You look a bit … pale.”

Niall walks over to Harry’s bed, which actually only takes him about four steps with their dorm room being about as big as a broom closet. Concern is written all over Niall’s face, turning his bright laughter into a soft smile as looks at Harry.

“Yeah, fine. Just a bit hungover I guess.”

“Haha, yeah you look the part. Here, have some water.” He hands Harry a bottle of still water that Harry has not noticed in his hand before. He gratefully accepts it, not caring that it has been opened before and Niall probably has been drinking from it. If they were going to be roommates, they should get used to sharing.

“Thanks.” Harry mumbles after taking a couple of small sips. He is still feeling queasy but at least there was no danger of him spilling last night’s alcohol all over Niall’s feet.

“You Irish, then?” He asks, not because he genuinely wants to know, he could tell by the accent, but more because of a lack of anything else to say.

“What gave it away? The accent or the shirt?” Harry wonders whether the guy is always smiling. So far it pretty much seems like he is.

Only now Harry bothers to check out the guy’s clothes. Blue jeans and a black Guinness shirt.

“The accent.”

Silence fills the room for a couple of seconds before Niall’s face brightens up even more than before – if this was even possible.

“Hey, listen. I assume you haven’t eaten yet and there is a pub not far from here around the corner. Let’s go down there and cure your hangover, yeah?”

“You just said it’s noon?” Harry cannot believe his what he is hearing.

“Yeah, time to eat. Some chips dripping with fat and a pint, that’s what you need right now.” With a wink he adds “Believe me, I’m Irish.”

That’s how Harry finds himself about 10 minutes later, dressed in his least skinny skinny jeans, a plain white shirt and a pair of Niall’s sunglasses. Harry manages to brush his teeth while taking a shower at the same time. He does not bother with drying his hair, just pulls it up into a bun. It would dry on the way to the pub anyway.

About halfway to the pub Harry notices that apparently he had switched off his phone sometime last night because the vibrations where driving him crazy. He quickly turns it on and waits for a minute for all the messages to arrive. As expected, a couple of them are from people he met at the party last night, checking in whether he was alive again yet. _That’s kinda nice._ Harry thinks. The majority of the text are from Liam though. It looks like Liam had been texting him nonstop until sometime around 7am this morning. Social drunk. He was probably live texting everything that happened after Harry had left. Come to think of it now, when did Harry leave? His memories start to fail him some time after talking to Eleanor. He knows he had been on his way to find Liam again, ready to go home. There is something he is missing; Harry is sure of it. Did he find Liam? Is that why Liam was texting him? The messages are still coming in so Harry puts it on silent before stuffing it back into his pocket. He and Niall arrive at the pub anyway and he can always go through the messages later.

The queasiness in is stomach that had been eased a bit by the short trip in the fresh air was back with full force the moment Harry steps inside the pub. The lingering smell of beer makes Harry’s stomach turn once again and he feels like throwing up today will be inevitable. Niall is chatting away as if nothing is wrong in this world and any other day Harry would really enjoy himself. So far Niall seems like a goodhearted person that you could really have fun with. He is outgoing and friendly and Harry knows they will become good friends during this semester. Right now however all Harry wants is to suffer in peace and wait for his hangover to pass. Despite the sunglasses the bright sunlight had worsen his pounding headache and combined with the nausea he is feeling as miserable as he has not been in a very long time. Niall greets the bartender with a hug over the bar, they seem to know each over. Or it might be an Irish thing, Harry would not know. He passes on the pint but lets Niall order him a large portion of chips. While he waits for his order to arrive he takes in the dark interior of the pub. It is larger than what it looks like on the outside with classic dark wood design and red and green clothed booths. Almost every booth is taken up by various crowds; students judging by the age. He and Niall are sitting at the bar, with Niall still talking to the bartender. Harry is happy that neither of the two expects him to join the conversation and just let him sit in silence. Harry’s phone had stopped vibrating some time ago but it takes Niall to get a text for Harry to remember that he has about a million messages waiting for him. Just as he is about to take it out, the bartender sets a plate in front of him.

“Here you go lad.” With a wink he adds “You look like you need it.”

“Don’t worry Harry, you feel better in no time.”

The bartender walks off, serving the rest of the bar and letting the two of them eat in silence. That is until Niall turns to face Harry, aa friendly smile on his lips.

“So, how was last night? I hope the hangover was worth it?”

Harry groans but still manages to smile, he cannot help it, Niall’s friendly attitude is infectious.

“I guess. I met some nice people. I don’t remember how I got home though.” He pops some chips into his mouth.

“That’s good. You a first year?”

Harry nods. “You?”

“First year a Guitar major but I did a year of business already. Wasn’t for me though. I convinced me parents to let me change major, told them I’d quit uni otherwise and come back to live with them, forever.”

“Does this mean you will play the guitar every day until the middle of the night?”

“God no. I’d be a horrible roommate if I did that, wouldn’t I?”

“Yeah that was my fear.”

“No, I’d say I’m pretty easy to live with. I can sleep with the lights on and noise if I have to so feel free to stay up as long as you want to. I don’t listen to music without earphones and we have a practice room where we can play. I’ll only play in our room if you’re out or if you want me to listen to.”

“Okay, that sounds reasonable.”

“Are you always this quiet? Or this this just the hangover?”

Harry has to laugh. Usually he is not described as quiet. While his low voice and slow pace of speaking is commented on, people usually say that he never shuts up. He loves talking to people, finding out more about them. He loves to tell stories about himself and if anyone mentions family he will not stop praising his. He loves his family to bits and he will tell you so.

“Nah, that’s the hangover.”

“We’ll get along really great. I can tell already.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

Harry finishes his chips while Niall watches him quietly. He does feel better and if it were not for the pounding headache assaulting the front of his head Harry would feel like he had not been drinking the night before. He likes Niall more and more by the minute.

The bartender clears away the plate and Harry orders another glass of water, still feeling a bit hydrated.

“So, how was last night? Did anything fun? I missed uni parties over the summer.”

Harry thinks about his answer for a moment. Other than the fact that cannot seem to remember how his night ended, he did have a lot of fun. He met a lot of nice people, did some dancing and the Eleanor girl seemed like someone he would hang out with again. He should text her, he thinks, maybe she can tell him how he got home. He would ask Liam too.

“Yeah it was alright. I have no idea how I got home though.” He takes out his phone. “I just need to send a quick text, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure go ahead.”

To say that Harry is surprised by the number of texts on his phone would be an understatement. 32 and 8 new voice messages. Harry skips over the texts from people he met last night, they would probably not be important. What catches his eyes is just how many texts Liam had send him.

_Eeeyy man that was sikc!! Did n’t think u would dooo it. Hope u got homme oakyy? xx_

_Hahaha louuuis is fraking ouit … amatzing should have mad a vido xxx_

_The other guys think u are fuynn. Are you home alreyd <? _

_Still at aparty, Ed opened his paents wine cellar!!!! Xxxxx_

_Broooo where r u???  I can’t finf my pants^_

_The starss are soo ice xxx_

_Fuuuukck james made avideo!!!!_

_Loking at it now,,_

_Amaizing!!!!_

_Haaartrtyy look at the the video!!! Lok at u and lou xxxx_

_Im so drunk xxx_

_Can’t blivee u kissed him :D_

_For real, iine the mouth???_

_Was rhwre toungee? Loouis wont talk t me bout it. Cant c on the vidos_

_Haaaarryyy?_

_U SLEEPIGN?_

_Ssry for caps_

_Not yelll at u_

_????_

_Here s the voieo by ghe way_

_Hahaha  an’t belieb_

_Good morning, sorry for texting you all night. Last night was crazy, are you okay? Let me know when you’re up. Come to my place?_

Harry is pretty sure he is staring at his phone but he cannot bring his body to stop. Now that he has read the messages, last night’s event come rushing back to him. The rooftop, the bet, the kiss – Louis. _Fuck._ What had he done?

“Fuck.”

“What?” Niall’s head perks up.

“Fuuuck.” Harry draws the word out. He has to, there are no other words in his head. He is literally speechless. Colour flushes his cheeks and for a moment the headache is forgotten. The nausea is back though, for an entirely other reason. The video is on his display and before Harry can rethink his decision he taps play, not caring that Niall is leaning over, eyeing his screen. The video is shaky and at first all Harry can make out are blurry glimpses of himself, thanks to the red floral shirt. James is laughing so hard it downs out every other sound but that doesn’t matter. Harry now remembers every word. They were going through the rules again, Harry and Louis keeping up their trash talking as if there were about to prove their athletic skills of some sort. _In a way we did._ The though pops into his mind before he can stop it. Harry remembers the kiss too. Had it been a girl, Harry would say it has been a bloody good kiss. Slow at first but growing more heated in a few seconds. Harry had pushed Louis’ body against the handrail behind him, bending their bodies over just a bit. Louis had responded with a small moan, so low that Harry felt it more than actually heard it. Louis had had his hands under Harry’s shirt on his back, holding him, pressing them closer together. On the video, you can tell the exact moment when Harry said _fuck it_ to himself and just really went for it. In shocked silence Harry watches himself let go of Louis’ waist and go for Louis’ hair, that perfect fluffy mess on his head. A memory of the feel of Louis’ hair on the tips of his fingers overwhelms Harry and he just lets it.

The video ends with Liam smacking both of them on the head, declaring a tie. There is a cackling sound, James, and the screen is black, the play icon daring Harry to play the video again.

“Fuck.”

Next to Harry, Niall is laughing.

“Mate, is that Louis? I knew he wasn’t straight.”

“Huh?”

“You made out with Louis fucking Tomlinson, I can’t believe it.”

“You know him.”

Harry thinks his life is flashing before his eyes.

“Of course I know him. Everyone does. He is the captain of the football team and the life of every party. Just ask around.”

“Fuck.”

“What’s the matter? It’s just a kiss at a party?”

“I’m straight.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Harry lets out a sigh. He has forgotten all about texting Eleanor. All he can think of is who has seen the video. A small voice at the back of his mind is worried for Louis. While Harry is not too fond of people finding out about it, he has no problem about people thinking he is gay. It’s not an insult, his masculinity is not threatened, he will not be disowned. Louis on the other hand has so much more to lose. If he really is popular and on the team, this would have repercussions, would it not? Sure, he seemed proud of his flamboyant manners but Harry knows, from experience, just how toxic the sport can be. A guy form high school had to leave the team after coming out because his teammates had not felt comfortable with having a _queer_ looking at them in the showers.

“Shit.”

“Calm down Harry, it’s not the end of the world, you know?”

“But what if people find out? Who knows how many people have seen the video already? What are they thinking?”

“Nothing probably. People are already convinced that Louis isn’t straight and they don’t really know you. No one will care.”

Harry stops his freak out for a moment to look at Niall.

“What about the football team?”

“What about it?”

“Well … it’s not really a sport that embraces queerness.”

“Like I said, everyone thinks Louis isn’t straight. They really don’t care. And Louis is a great captain, everyone loves him.”

“You on the team?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Great. So I will have to come to your matches and see Louis.”

Niall claps his hand on Harry’s shoulder for a moment.

“Don’t worry, it’s still a month until the first match. You’ll be okay.”

 

Of course that would be too easy, would it not? That’s probably why when Harry knocks on Liam’s door about an hour later it is no other than Louis who opens the door. Harry might have been very drunk but he would recognise Louis everywhere. If not by his small curvy figure, then at least by his voice and accent.

“Hi can I – Oh.” Louis seems to be just as surprised.

“Oh. I must have gotten the room wrong.” This has to be it, right? “I wanted to go see Liam, sorry for bothering you.”

“Harry?” Liam’s voice rings out form somewhere on the inside of the room. Not the wrong room then, damn it.

Louis angles the door more open to let Harry into the room. Silently he walks towards one off the three beds and flops down on it, scrolling through his phone.

“Hey, Liam. How are you?” Even though he tries not to be, Harry is very aware of Louis being in the same room with him. He has no idea what he is doing here but he has a strong fear that Liam is going to make Harry and Louis talk. Liam is like that, a strong believer in open and honest communication. Whereas Harry believes in ignoring a problem until it goes away. Easier said than done if the problem is human shaped and sending sly glances at you when they think you are not looking.

But maybe Harry is getting ahead of himself. This does not have to be a disaster, like Niall said. He would just tell Louis that whatever last night was, was just a onetime drunk thing. Is that not what university is for? For all Harry knows Louis is under the same impression. Like Niall said, Louis was supposed to be just as straight as Harry.

"Harry, good to see that you are up and living again. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. Well, at least I did when I woke up." Harry says, remembering the nausea he felt the second he woke up. "My new roommate woke me up when he finally got here. But the guy is a hangover genius. He took me out for chips and now I'm okay."

"Oh, you met your roommate? How is he?"

"Irish." Harry smirks. "But really nice so far. He is always smiling. Doing a music degree after doing a year of something with business."

"You're living with Niall?" Louis puts in from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, you know him?”

"Yes, he is on the team."

"Oh. Right. He mentioned that."

Louis merely nods before going back to his phone.

"Harry, I know you've met Louis already." Liam blushes uncharacteristically before continuing. "He is one of my roommates. I just wanted you two to officially meet."

"He is your roommate?" For a moment Harry does not know what to think. Lim had talked a lot about his roommates over the last year but somehow he either never mentioned a name or Harry had conveniently forgotten about it.

"Nice to meet you, Louis." Harry mutters, his hand stretched towards Louis.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too."

The room goes quiet again.

Everyone just stares at each other for a while before Louis starts to speak.

"So, this is Harry then? The one from back home?"

"You talk about me?"

"Of course I talk about you. I couldn't wait for you to join me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Silence again.

"Look, I realise that things between you two are weird because of what happened last night and I just wasn’t you two to get along and both be my best friends. I'm gonna leave you two to talk it out and then we can all forget about it?"

Even as he says it he looks unsure.

"I've asked James to delete the video and he said he had only sent it to me in the first place. So, don't worry about it. No one knows."

He gets up from his position on the bed.

"I'm gonna go get us some coffee, because some of us don't have an Irish roommate and are still a bit out of it. Be back in 10 minutes."

With that he leaves. Harry is still standing somewhere in the middle of the room, no knowing where to sit down.  Just like his room, this one is impossible small with barely enough space for the three beds, three wardrobes and one long desk. For a lack of better things to do, Harry studies the room. Two of the desk places are covered by laptops but the third stands out. On it someone has built a small tea station. Electric kettle, a box of Yorkshire Tea and a mini fridge presumably containing milk underneath.

Louis sees Harry eying the desk and a small smile perks up on his lips.

“Tea?” he asks.

“This is yours then?”

“Yeah. I need my tea and I can’t be bothered to go to the community kitchen all the time. I never use my laptop on the desk anyway.”

“So …” Harry starts.

“So …” Louis mimics.

“Okay look, like Liam said, I don’t want things to be weird. Last night was a drunk bet thing for me. I get really competitive. I just hope I didn’t make things weird for you. I don’t know you and all.”

Harry feels a blush creeping up on his cheeks but ignores it and keeps talking. He needs to get the words out.

“I usually don’t go around kissing guys at parties, just so you know.”

“Yeah, me neither. And you didn’t make things weird for me. I don’t know if it was clear enough yesterday but I actually don’t give a shit about what other people think about me. I’m a drama student, people have always thought I was gay.” Louis gives him a small smile.

“A drama student, huh?”

“What? You seem surprised?”

Harry is surprised. Not because he cannot see Louis up on a stage but more because he has never met a drama student who was captain of the football team. Things sure are different around here.

“I guess I am? The football players that I know are all pretty … homophobic, I guess?. I was so worried that I made things unsafe for you.”

At that Louis cracks up laughing.

“Oh that really explains your anxious looks. I thought you had an identity crisis or something.” For the first time Loui gets up from the bed. Still laughing he makes his way over to the kettle before filling it up with water from a bottle he keeps next to the desk.

“Seriously, my team is the best and most loyal team out there. I know because I handpicked them. There are some guys on the team who don’t identify as straight and they all know that I have a zero tolerance policy for toxic behaviour. They really don’t care about what we did last night.” With an even brighter grin he adds “I think half the team is convinced that I’m gay anyway.”

Relief flows through Harry like it has not in a long time. The knot in his stomach loosens instantly.

“Niall mentioned something like that, yeah?”

“You always talk to strangers about the guys you kissed the night before?” There is not anger or irritation in Louis’ voice, just plain curiosity.

“Oh, no. He was sitting next to me when I watched the video. I guess you could say that I had been a little bit shocked. I kinda … had forgotten about it when I woke up. Liam’s texts had jumpstarted my memory.”

With a fake pout Louis says “Hey, my kisses are not that easily forgotten. I am a good kisser!”

 _You are._ Harry thinks but doesn’t say. No reason to make things weird again.

When Liam arrives 10 minutes later Harry and Louis have become best friends. He finds them sitting close together on the bed, laughing about something. With the coffee to go cups in his hand he stares at the pair, both of them with tea mugs in their hands.

“I take it you worked out the issues, then?”

“Hey Liam, next time maybe tell me when I’m about to make out with a roommate of yours. It would make things less weird.” Harry smiles.

“Well, I guess I should warn you about Zayn then.”

“What about Zayn?”

“He’s my other roommate, and he is actually into guys.”

Harry ends up spending the whole afternoon with Liam and Louis; and Zayn after he joins them. They all get along splendid and Harry can see the relief on Liam’s face.

Harry even forgets to feel worried about classes starting the next day and instead just falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. The last thing he hears is Niall laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up the next morning is easier than the morning before. Harry’s head is not hurting and he is not fighting nausea. Also, instead of a loud Irish guy he was woke up by his alarm clock which is marginally better. Probably. 

The Irish guy in question is still sleeping peacefully in his bed on the other side of the room while Harry gets up and dressed. He has no idea about Niall schedule but he trusts that Niall is old enough to set his own alarm. On tip toes Harry gathers his stuff and heads out to the bathrooms to wash up. The hallway is much more awake than Harry would have guessed. He has never been someone who was prone to sleeping late but 6:30am was considered early to him. In the hallway people were fully dressed and awake, moving up and down, greeting each other loudly. Harry could not share their excitement. He is just now realising that today university starts for real. He would meet some of his professors today, get a feel for the way everything works and probably get the first few projects assigned. At least that is what Liam had told him. Liam had also asked him the day before whether Harry would want to meet up before class and get help finding the way but Harry had declined. He had wanted to show himself that he was perfectly capable of finding his classes on his own. After all, he would not be the only one attending the lecture and if he really needed help, he would find someone. 

After washing up and blushing his teeth, Harry goes back to his room to find that Niall is up and frantically throwing his clothes out of his suitcase. 

"Did I wake you?"

"No, but I wish you had. I'm fucking late."

Niall frowns at the contents of his suitcase, apparently not liking the result. 

"Sorry, I thought you had your own alarm at a later time."

"Yeah, I thought I had too. Turns out I had punched in the time into the calculate app before falling passing out."

Harry starts laughing before he can even ask how someone manages to do that. 

"Laugh all you want. I was exhausted. Not everyone went to bed at 9 like you."

"Heey, it was like 9:30 at least! And besides, I was tired. Why did you stay up until God knows when?"

A small blush creeps up on Niall's face and Harry almost cannot believe his eyes.

"Oh, I was just talking to someone about the music department. I'm kinda nervous about it and I found someone who was willing to show me around yesterday afternoon. We spent half the night texting."

"Oh? That's ... nice. And now you're crushing on them?"

"Hey, you never said, how did it go with Louis? Did you find him and talk to him?"

Nice way of changing the subject, Harry thinks. But he decides to let it slide. Why should he care if his roommate has a crush? They were practically strangers. 

"I actually did. Turns out he is my best friend's roommate and the dickhead forgot to mention that when he dared me to make out with him. I went to Liam to talk about how embarrassed I am and Louis opened the door."

"Ah, I can imagine that being hilarious. I should have gone with you."

"But then you would have missed your date with ... whoever”

Niall blushes again and Harry is surprised that someone as outgoing as Niall seems to be is able to blush because of the mention of a date. Harry does not even know who it was.

"It wasn't a date, you know?" Niall starts, staring down at his feet. "He just showed me around a bit. Showed me where the practice rooms are. Where the professors’ offices are. You know? Important stuff. We went for coffee afterwards but only because we were both pretty tired. But man, he is the most beautiful guy I have ever seen. You should have seen him. Raven hair and dark brown eyes. And tattoos. He looked like he just stepped out of an underwear model shoot or something. I can't believe he is doing music. He should be modelling. Or being an actor. Anything where people can ogle him - "

"You're rambling."

"Shit."

Harry and Niall both laugh. 

"It's okay. I was just teasing. So... you into guys then?"

"Eh, I don't really care about gender, you know? I fall in love with personality rather than looks. Well, Zayn is an exception I guess."

"Wait what? Zayn?"

"Yes, he is Pakistani. His das, at least. His mum is Irish and something else? I don’t know. He is part Irish like me –"

"Niall!” Harry exclaims to get his attention. “I met Zayn at the party. He is Liam’s other roommate.”

“Wait … you know Liam Payne?”

“Yeah, why?”

“He’s on the team as well.”

“I know?”

“Oh. It’s just that he is really great, you know. Always helping everybody.”

Harry smiles. This sounds a lot like the Liam he grew up with. Harry does not want to admit but he low key had been worried that Liam had changed a bit since he last saw him. After all it had been a while. 

“So, my roommate made out with the captain of the team and is friends with everyone’s favourite dad Liam. Great.”

“You make me almost sound cool.”

"Well, you so far you're not a loser." Niall says, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Oh gee, thanks. And you really should hurry up. It's almost 7:30."

Niall curses again and picks up a random shirt from his suit case. He does not bother with straightening out the wrinkles and just throws it on before dressing in the same jeans as yesterday. Harry grabs his hoodie and off they go. 

Since Harry has no idea where Niall has to go, they part ways in front of their building, making plans to meet up for lunch at a cafe that was between their campus buildings. 

Harry's class is within walking distance of the dorm building, this he knows. The harder part was finding the right room inside of the building. All he knows is that is has to be a rather big lecture hall. His eyes half closed still Harry stumbles his way to the building. The first thing he notices is the Starbucks just next to it. His stomach gives a growl as if to remind him that he has not had breakfast this morning. At home Harry would have at least a piece of toast but this morning he had been too nervous to go look for the community kitchen. After checking the time again Harry decides that a quick stop for a coffee and a muffin will not make him late for his class. Stepping through the automatic door, Harry is greeted by the strong aroma of coffee. The queue is moving fast and before he knows it, it is his turn to order. Harry is just about to open his mouth when one of the baristas is calling out the name of someone waiting for their order.

“Tea for Louis?”

While his mind tells him to calm down, the name Louis is not  _that_ uncommon, Harry knows that it is just this kind of day. His heart speeds up suddenly.  _Why?_ Next thing he knows Louis walks past him. Louis is wearing a dark grey pair of Adidas sweatpants and a white shirt that looks too big on his body, as if he had gotten up and grabbed the first things to put on that he could find. Louis accepts his tea and just as he was about to walk pat Harry, Harry manages to trip while standing bumping into Louis and making him spill the tea.  _Of course._ Louis hisses as the hot liquid soaks through his shirt. Is it inappropriate of Harry that he is thinking about wet t-shirt contests now? Probably, but he cannot help himself as Louis’ chest tattoos become visible through the wet fabric. The fabric clings to Louis’ chest, making the outline of his abs visible. What is it with him and tattoos, Harry wonders? Louis yells out a loud  _fuck_ . Harry would like to say that he acted like a complete gentleman and immediately tried help Louis but in truth all he does is turn bright red, for two reasons. One, because he just spilled hot tea all over another person because he is the clumsiest human being. And two, because his for some reason his body decided that this was the moment to have an erection. The crotch area of his skinny jeans is impossibly tight and Harry fears that someone might notice something. After some very awkward moments, Harry finally finds his voice and starts acting normal again.

“Oh shit! I am so sorry! Are you okay?” he asks with concern.

“Fuck, no! I have hot tea all over my chest.” For the first time Louis looks up.

“Harry?”

“Hi … I’m really sorry. I tripped and I didn’t see you.”

“Erm... It’s okay, I guess. It’s just a shit morning. I overslept and now my shirt is ruined. Fuck, I have to go change or go to class like this. Fuuuuck!” Louis is rambling and all Harry can do is stand there and listen. People around them are moving forward, avoiding the two guys blocking the queue. 

“I’m really sorry. I’m the worst, I’m so clumsy.” Harry takes off his hoodie and hands it to Louis. “Here, you can have my hoodie and just wear that?” With a smile he adds, “I wouldn’t want to make you late to class.”

Louis does not say anything but takes the clothes from Harry’s hand. He takes off his shirt right there in the coffee shop. Harry cannot help himself but stare at Louis’ chest again. With the shirt still on, he had not been able to make out the words written all the way across his chest. Now with the shirt gone there is nothing keeping him from reading “It is what it is” Louis’s cheeks pull up into a slight grin once he catches Harry staring at his chest and Harry’s cheeks burn up in response. He does not need Louis thinking he is checking him out. Because he really is not. He is just interested in his tattoos. 

“Well, this is kinda big on me. How do I look?” Louis says once he has the hoodie pulled over his body. The fabric is downing him completely; he has to roll up the sleeves several times before the tips of his fingers are visible. To be honest, the hoodie is big on Harry to begin with. On Louis’ smaller frame it looks just ridiculous. Also because he is not wearing a shirt underneath and the neckline is hanging low, letting some parts of his tattoo exposed. _Louis’ collarbones are very nice._ _The hhhhhfgjfjdfkloslöas_ The thought crosses Harry’s mind so fast he cannot stop it. For some bizarre reason he is worried for a moment that Louis might know what he is thinking about. Which is ludicrous of course. It still makes Harry blush. 

“You look … cute” 

_Good job, Styles, very heterosexual._

“You think I look cute?” Louis asks with a smirk. 

“No … not like sexy cute. Like … cute like a dog. A baby dog. Not sexy…”

_Shit._

Louis is full on laughing now, bending over with laughter, getting crinkles by his eyes. Not that Harry blames him. There is no excuse for what he just did. What even was that? He could have just told him that he looked okay and then moved on. Class is starting soon and he still had not had coffee. He does not even know where his building is. He might have to walk a while still. He really should go not, just leave without getting coffee. But something holds him back. And then he remembers that because of him Louis does did not get his cup of tea either. Not in the way he wanted it anyway. Awkwardly he coughs to get Louis’ attention back. 

“So … I guess I owe you another cup? Do you still have time?”

“I’m sorry, the way you just tried to save your masculinity or whatever you were trying to do there.” He giggles again. “But yeah I do have time. I don’t care if I’m late. I’ve taken the class three times already, it doesn’t matter.”

“Three times?”

“Yeah, literature isn’t really my thing.”

_Literature._ Something in Harry’s mind is ringing a bell. Oh right, that was what he was about to take. Shit.

“I think we might have this class together.”

“You’re taking Lit as well? Nice, maybe I’ll pass it this semester with your help. You seem like a smart guy.”

Harry blushes again. Something must be wrong with him. He should probably see a doctor about this. Blushing all the time does not seem normal to him.

From there on out the rest of the morning passes quickly. After they get their coffee and tea Louis shows him the way to the lecture hall and they make it just in time. Louis leads them to a one of the rows in the back of the hall. After the lecture Harry is meeting Niall for an early lunch. 

“Did you make it to class in time?” Harry asks after greeting Niall outside the cafe. 

“Barely. I arrived there all sweaty. I hope your morning was better?”

“I wish” Harry laughs. “I ran into Louis. Literally. Made him spill his tea all over himself.”

Niall barks out a laugh. Is there anything that is not funny to him, Harry wonders. 

“Ouch that sounds bad. How bad did he yell at you?”

“It wasn’t that bad. I just was really embarrassed.”

“That means he likes you. Louis would have killed anyone else if they made him spill his tea. He loves his tea. There are rumours that he has convinced the head of the dorms to let him keep an electric kettle in his room. Apparently he said that he doesn’t care about fire hazard rules and that he will set the building on fire himself if he doesn’t get to keep it in his room.”

Harry chuckles at the mental image of it. He might not have known Louis for a very long time but he can really see it in front of him. Louis kind of has a knack for being overly dramatic. It probably comes with the territory of studying drama. 

“Yeah, rumours are true. He does keep an electric kettle in his room. His tea is excellent.”

“What?” Niall looks at him surprised before he continues speaking. “Oh yeah, forgot you been to his room.”

“Well, I’ve been to Liam’s room but yeah.”

They head inside and sit down at a round table in far corner. Despite it being rather early, the café is full with students, their chatter creating a nice background buzzing. Niall gets chips and a coke while Harry sticks to a salad and tea, wanting to treat his body to something healthy after poisoning it with alcohol on the weekend. 

Halfway through their lunch, Harry gets a text from Liam, asking him to meet up. 

“Hey Niall, is it okay if Liam joins us? His class is over.”

“Of course.” Niall smiles. Harry is beginning to feel like Niall cannot not smile. He is pure sunshine. 

They finish their food and order another round of drinks while they wait for Liam to arrive. They talk a bit more about their class in the morning. For some reason Harry does not tell Niall that he and Louis are in the same class. He is still not sure that Niall will no tease him about it. It is like being in primary school all over again. When people still cared about it when you told them you had a crush. Not that Harry has a crush of course. Why would he even come up with that comparison? He does not even know Louis all that well and there is also the matter of Louis being a bloke and Harry being into girls. So there is that. Not a crush. 

Of course this all goes to shit when Liam arrives. Liam, who had run into Louis back in their room. How could Harry think this would stay a secret for long?

Liam arrives dressed in sweatpants and a black t-shirt, carrying a familiar black hoodie in his hand. He drops the hoodie in Harry’s lap.

“Louis sends his regards.” Liam says in lieu of greeting, a teasing smile on his lips.

Niall snickers.

“Hi Liam.”

“Hi Niall. Thanks for rescuing my dear Harry over here from his hangover yesterday.”

“No worries. You should have seen his face when he woke up.” With a smile he turns to Harry. “Why does Louis have your hoodie by the way?”

Harry would like to say that he does not blush. He really would.

“I gave it to him after I spilt his tea. I couldn’t let him go to class with a wet t-shirt, could I?”

Harry bunches up the hoodie in his lap, catching a whiff of some unfamiliar scent. Louis probably. He should definitely wash it. He makes a mental note to drop it in his laundry basket when he gets to his room later.

“So, with you and Louis in the same class, he might actually pass the exam this time around.” Liam grins. 

Niall shoots Harry a confused look before the corners of his mouth rise up into a smile.

“You didn’t mention that Louis was in your class too.”

“Yeah, well… didn’t seem important.”

“Sure.” Niall smiles knowingly.

Harry really wishes they both would stop with their smirks and looks. There really isn’t anything to be smug about. They treat him like a ten-year-old with his first crush. How many times does he have to remind them that is not into guys? At least Liam should know this. He is, after all, Harry’s longest friend. If Harry would ever have been into guys he would have told him at some point. He is just a bit confused about all that has been happening. And who wouldn’t? It had been a good kiss, if you looked at it from an objective point of view. Harry can appreciate that. You certainly do not have to be attracted to the person to enjoy the kiss. If Liam had his eyes closed, kissing a guy without being aware of it, he would enjoy it too. That is biology. Or something. No wonder Harry does not go around talking about Louis all the time, if this is the way his friends react to it. Niall is his friend too, he supposes. They may not know each other for that long but Harry can feel that there is a connection there. It is nice to know that he actually knows and likes Liam, he thinks. Somehow this lunch feels more like they have been friends forever, no just met. 

As Niall begins to sip his tea, an idea comes to Harry’s mind. If Niall can tease him about Louis, Niall’s crush for Zayn is fair game, is it not?

“Hey, Liam.” Harry says. “How is Zayn? Maybe he can join us too? He seemed really nice yesterday.”

Liam’s face lights up, happy to see that his friends are getting along, probably.

“Yeah, I was gonna ask you anyway if it was okay of him to join. He’ll be done with classes in soon.” Liam takes a look around the room and frowns. “But maybe we should go somewhere else? This place is getting pretty full and our table is tiny. We can all just go to my room? Louis will be bored anyway all on his own.”

Niall has gone quiet at the mention of Zayn and is now nervously checking his phone. It actually does remind Harry of primary school crushes. 

“Niall, you’re joining us too, aren’t you?” Liam continues.

“Huh? Oh yeah. Sure.” Niall mutters, shooting Harry a dark look. 

But Harry does not feel guilty. He actually wants to hang out with Zayn, having enjoyed their brief conversations the day before. It had been great to see Liam interact with his friends, seeing how perfect they are together, even though they are all so different. If Harry is honest, he had dreaded meeting Liam’s friends from uni, fearing that he would not fit in somehow. It is nice to find out that gets along great with them and it is even better that his roommate knows them too. 

Shortly after their conversation they pack up their stuff and leave the café. If Harry puts on the hoodie he just got back, then only back he is feeling a bit cold. It is September after all. 

Niall is unusually silent for the first time since Harry had known him. He does not say a single word on the way from the café to dorm rooms. Maybe Harry should not have asked about Zayn but like Liam had said, they would have met him either way. Harry would have never guessed Niall to be the shy and quiet type. He basically had not stopped talking to Harry ever since they have met, so why would he not just ask Zayn out? 

Again it is Louis who opens the door to the room, before Liam can even begin looking for his keys. 

“Finally. You said you were only going out for a quick lunch.” Only then does he look at Harry and Niall who have been silently standing behind Liam. “Oh, you brought company? Nice.” He takes a step aside. “Hi, Niall. I don’t think you have ever been to our room. It’s just as shitty as every other room, but we’ve got an electric kettle.”

Niall, having realised that Zayn is not here yet smiles at Louis. 

“No, I haven’t. I hope it’s no problem that I’m tagging along? I’m Harry’s roommate.”

“I know, Harry told me about you yesterday. And I guess you’ll be hanging out here with us more often then. With you being his roommate on top of the football practice starting next week. Are you in form?”

Harry throws himself down on Liam’s bed while Niall and Louis continue their talk about the new season. They both seem to be really excited. It is Niall’s first year officially on the team since last year he had only made it to the try outs at the end of the semester. That is all Harry knows anyway. He and Niall had not really talked about football. They had not talked too much altogether. 

Liam sits down next to Harry and smiles at him. It's comforting to know that some things never change even after being away from each other for quite some time. Liam still smiles the same way and it still makes Harry feel the same way – happy, loved, calm. Maybe that's all he needs. In case everything goes wrong and he is sure he is failing at this university thing. Liam will always be there for him. 

“So? How was your first class?” Liam asks, pulling Harry out of his thoughts. 

For a moment Harry's heart speeds up even though he knows that all Liam wants to know it about his actual class was. Still, everything that comes to Harry's mind are images that have Louis written all over it. If Harry is being honest, all they had done was talk and giggle during the lecture. He vaguely remembers the professor going through the schedule for the semester, explaining how the exam works and then starting with how literate started but … nope, nothing much after that. He hadn't even been taking notes. He and Louis had found out that they had both attended the same The Script concert as well as Leeds festival and had spent the whole time discussing music. All of a sudden the class was over and they were saying their goodbyes. Not for very long as it seems now. 

“Um … I probably should have been taking more notes.” Harry laughs nervously. 

“Nah, it's okay if you didn't get everything. Just meet up with someone before the exam to compare notes and you'll be fine.” 

That's not really reassuring now is it?

“I kinda … didn't write a single thing down.”

Liam nods, a smile spreading over his face. 

“Louis keep you from it?”

“Yeah ...”

“Don't worry Harry. I'm serious. The class isn't that hard to pass actually.”

“But Louis failed it several times?”

Louis had told him. How a drama major can hate literature was beyond Harry though. Louis had taken the class several times and this was actually the last time he could take it without any serious repercussions. 

But Liam doesn't seem all too worried. 

“Listen, Louis failed all those times because he is a lazy fuck. You'll be okay. Trust me.”

As if he has a sixth sense for when people are talking about him, Louis got up from his bead and walked towards them. 

“I'm making a cup of tea. You want one Harry? I kinda owe you one after this morning.”

“Uh what?”

“You paid for my tea, remember?” Louis' eyes crinkle as he smile; Harry stores that information away for whenever. “I figured I owe you one.”

“I mean... the only reason I paid for it was because I made you an unwilling participant in a wet t-shirt contest.”

“I got a fresh cup of tea and a comfy hoodie out of it. On top of that you called me cute. The way I'm seeing it, I'm winning.”

Harry does the obvious thing and blushes. (He should really get that checked out by a doctor. Doesn't seem healthy to him.)

“So … tea?”

“Yes please.”

Liam looks like he is about to say something but gets interrupted when Zayn comes through the door. He stops for a second, seemingly confused by all the people in his room before his eyes focus on Niall. His furrowed brows instantly relax (Niall seems to have that effect on people) and the corners of his mouth move upwards a bit. (Also one of Niall's talents.) 

“Niall? What are you doing here?” He asks, immediately moving towards Niall and sitting down on the bed beside him. 

“Liam invited me along, I'm Harry's room mate” 

“Oh yeah, he mentioned you.”

Niall's cheeks are dusted a slight rose colour, easily spotted on his pale skin. Harry is so focused on watching him and Zayn fall into quiet conversation that he doesn't notice Louis trying to get his attention until a green mug is held under his nose. 

“Here you go. I made it the same way I take mine. Hope that's okay.”

Harry takes the steaming mug from him and blows on the dark liquid. Louis mirrors him as he sits down next to Harry on the bed. Harry feels he bed dip a bit and catches a whiff of Louis' scent. There is something so sweet smelling about it, though Harry can't quite place it. Cinnamon maybe?

“What's up with those two?” Louis says and nods his head in the general direction of Niall and Zayn. “Niall has gone all … blushy. And Zayn is actually talking. To a human being.”

Liam snorts and Harry smiles. What can he say, he is a hopeless romantic. It warms his heart to see his two new friends look at each other as if the other one hung the moon. 

“I think someone has a crush.” Liam singsongs. 

“Who can blame Niall? Look at that face.” Harry earns curious looks from both Liam and Louis. What can he say? He is straight, not blind. If anyone tries to claim they can't see how pretty Zayn is, they are lying.

“What?” 

“Nothing.”

“Liam you can't seriously try to tell me that you can't see how fucking pretty Zayn is. His face was made by Gods.”

“I didn't say anything.” Liam smirks. 

For a moment the room goes quiet before Louis' face lights up.

“About Zayn and Niall..”

“No!” Liam interrupts him.

“I was just saying ...”

“Absolutely not. Were not 5.”

“Liam, let Louis finish maybe?” Because Harry for one has no idea what Louis is planning that Liam finds so appalling. He can't read his mind.

“It's just that … Zayn is a bit... slow when it comes to crushes and romance. I just wanted to … you know. Help them. Just a bit.”

Louis is practically radiating even if Liam looks like the owner of a puppy who had just had a wee on the new carpet – annoyed but also only seconds away from accepting the apology. 

That's how Harry finds himself discussing playing match maker for his room mate and his friends room mate. You know, the usual stuff people in their very early twenties are discussing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ends a bit abruptly but that's on purpose because I don't want to make it too long. :)  
> As always, thank you for reading.
> 
> xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter today, sorry people. I had a migraine yesterday and today and wasn't able to write but I promised a chapter.  
> Another one will come on Sunday. (It will be longer and more eventful, promise)
> 
> Have a nice weekend. xx

The next few days pass in a similar fashion than the first. Harry goes to all of his classes and meet up with “his boys” afterwards. Usually they all hang out in Liam's room, since it is the biggest. They watch films, order take-away or just sit and talk. Harry is not disappointed that he doesn't have any more classes with Louis. He really isn't. It's just that some of his classes are really boring and he wishes he has someone to talk to during them. Class definitely passes quicker when Louis is sitting next to you, giggling and whispering into your ear. But Harry will manage, he tells himself.

It's Friday night again when Harry remembers that he hasn't texted Eleanor all week. He is in his room, just lying on his bed while Niall is telling a story about growing up in Ireland when he suddenly recalls her. Harry sits up in one fluid motion and retrieves his mobile from where it is on his night stand.

“What's gotten into you?” Niall shoots him a quizzical look. “Gotten a text from Louis?” He actually chuckles at his own joke. _Tosser_ , Harry thinks but catches himself before he can flip Niall off. He isn't worth the energy. Harry will just have to wait until Zayn is in the room with them again and then get Niall back. And Harry isn't the only one. Liam and Louis never let an opportunity slide to make either Zayn or Niall blush.

Instead Harry searches for Eleanor's number in his phone and fires a quick text.

_Hey, it's Harry here. You gave me your number at the party. Sorry that I didn't text sooner, I had a crazy first week. How are you? Do you wanna go for a coffee or something tomorrow? Just let me know. xx_

“Are you sure you didn't text Louis?” Niall asks, still looking at Harry with that smirk on his face.

Harry lets out a sigh before answering.

“Yeah, I'm sure. I texted a girl that I met at the party last week... If you must know.”

“Uhhhhh, picked up Louis and a girl.” Niall singsongs as if they were five.

Harry actually snorts.

“No. We just chatted. She's nice. And I didn't _pick up_ Louis.” He mimes quotation marks.

“Nah, you just kissed him like your life depended on it. Got it.”

“You do know that I am still straight, right Niall?”

“Pfff. So is spaghetti until it gets hot.” Niall winks at him.

“That doesn't even makes sense!”

Niall looks at him for a moment before he answers. His face turns a tad more serious.

“Love doesn't make sense.” he says in a quiet voice. “It's okay, you know.”

Harry doesn't speak for a bit. He knows what Niall is trying to say. And of course he knows that it is okay. Harry never really much thought about it. He is attracted to girls, ergo he is straight. There was not need to think about it any more than that. Kissing Louis doesn't change that. Why should it? He tells Niall as much.

“Tell you what, if someone ever changes... you'll be the first to know.”

For a moment Niall looks like he won't let Harry off the hook that easy. There is something on the tip of is tongue, ready to spill over. But the next moment he laughs and Harry lets out a small sigh of relief.

“Deal. But just so you know, I'm not kissing you even if you were into guys.”

“How said I'd want to kiss your ugly mouth anyway?”

Niall answers by throwing a pillow at Harry.

Harry would answer but in that moment his phone starts vibrating in his hand; Eleanor.

So she is a _caller._ (Harry's approach to modern communication is why talk on the phone for 3 minutes when you can settle it in 57 whatsapp messages.)

Nevertheless, Harry pics up quickly.

“Hi.”

“Hey, Harry. I'm so glad you texted me. I've wanted to talk to all week but you didn't give me your number.”

Harry recalls a hazy memory getting Eleanor's number and promising to call so she would have his. That was before he met Louis.

“Yeah I know, sorry. First week and all that.”

“Oh believe me I get it. Anyway, I'm having a party tomorrow night and I thought maybe you want to stop by? You can bring some friends if you want.”

Another week another party Harry thought. Is this what university is like?

“I'd love to come yeah. Do you need help preparing anything? Should I come by before the party and help you?”

“Are you being serious?”

“Sure.”

“Well, yes. If you really want to help, of course I'd love you to.”

“Great, text me the address and I'll be there.”

“Great, see you then.”

“Bye”

As Harry finishes the call Niall makes a show of looking busy, as if he did not just strain to hear every word out of Harry and Eleanor's mouth. Nosy bastard.

“Soooo.. we're going to a party tomorrow?” he smirks.

“ _I'm_ going to party. If you're nice to me I'm bringing you.”

“Hey, did you forget who saved you from the hangover from hell last week? Did you?” he fakes a pout. It looks so wrong on his face, Harry decides.

“Yeah alright you can come.”

“Fuck yeah, I'm telling Zayn.”

“No, you can't”

“What, why not?”

Harry stops for a moment. Maybe his reasons don't make sense. They probably really don't. But ever since he had decided to go to uni he had this mental list of things he wants to accomplish in order to feel like he had made it. It's probably really stupid but it's small stuff like _do your own laundry_ and _eat healthy_ bigger tasks like _find a job._ One of his mental achievements is _make friends._ And he means making friends on his own. But Harry is not sure Niall will get what he is trying to do or why he needs to do it. It's like he is proving to someone that he can do it all on his own.

“You'll laugh.” he states.

“Harry, I promise that I won't.”

_Sigh._

“If you laugh I'll hit you.”

“Deal.”

“Okay.. well..”

“Whatever it is, Harry … just say it.”

“Okay. I feel like I need to make friends on my own. And if you bring Zayn he'll bring Liam and Louis and you guys don't count.”

Niall just stares at him for a moment, a smile teasing his lips. Harry has to give him credit for really trying not to laugh.

“We don't count … as friends?”

“No because you aren't my friends. You are. But you're my room mate, okay? It's not like I made an effort. We just became friends. And I've known Liam my whole life so obvuiously he doesn't count either. You known?”

“Not really, but do go on. What about Zayn and Louis?”

“They are Liam's room mates. I was always gonna be friends with them. Whether I wanted to or not.”

Niall is quite for a moment before he answers.

“So by making friends you mean making friends by actively talking to people to get to know them and not just because you happen to be close to each other?”

“Yes, exactly. And I haven't done that all week. I was too focused in class on taking notes. Or rushing to my next class. And in the afternoon I've hung out with you and the guys. You know? I need to do this. For myself.”

“Well it that's what you want then sure, I won't tell Zayn. Or anyone.”

“Thanks Niall.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to make shorter chapters and keep them coming more often. It takes off a bit of the pressure form me.   
> I hope you are all still enjoying reading it.   
> xx
> 
> Fyi, comments make me work faster ;)

Harry is impressed when he gets to Eleanor's building the next day. She had texted him the address that morning, a town house in quite the upscale neighbourhood of London. It's a bit after noon when Harry rings the doorbell. He struggles a bit with the three cups of Starbucks Frappochinos that he is carrying. One for him, one for Eleanor and one for Sophia, Eleanor's girlfriend. She had mentioned her in quite a few texts and Harry wants to make a good first impression for some reason. Also, who doesn't like frappochinos?

The intercom emits static for a few seconds before Harry is buzzed in. he is glad to get out of the drizzle, the humidity messing with his curls. The flat is one the second floor and Harry all but races the steps upstairs. Eleanor is already waiting for him at the door.

“Harry!” she shouts, “I'm glad you found it.”

Harry gives her a smile and hugs her as best as he can with the cups in his hand.

“Hi. I brought sugar disguised as coffee.”

Eleanor grins as she takes in the cups in Harry's left hand.

“Great. Just put it in the kitchen, Sophia should be in there somewhere fixing the fruit punch.”

Harry brightens up at the mention of fruit punch. To say he is a fan of fruity drinks would be an understatement. He never understood why guys pretended to hate the “girly” drinks. Why would anyone pretend to love getting drunk on bitter beer and harsh liquor shots that burn your mouth when you drink when those sugary delights were available.

In the kitchen Harry finds a beautiful girl with long brown hair falling in soft curls over her back. Sophia, he assumes. She doesn't even take notice of him as she meticulously cuts what looks to be pineapple in small cubes.

“Babe, can you get me a dish rag. My hands are all sticky.” she says without turning around.

“Erm...” Harry doesn't know what to say but Sophia around in that moment.

“Oh sorry, I thought you were El.” she beams at him. “I'm Sophia. You must be Harry.”

“Hello Sophia. Yes I am.”

“Well, I'd hug you but I have pineapple juice all over me.”

“It's okay.” he shakes his head at her. “I come bringing sugary gifts.”

Sophie brightens up even more as she takes in what Harry is holding for the first time.

“I like you.” she decides.

Harry breaths a bit easier. Sophie seems to be a a lovely girl. It's not like he had imagined something else. Eleanor is more than lovely so why should her girlfriend be anything different.

Eleanor enters the kitchen with a dish rag in her hands. Wordlessly she hands it over to Sophia, absent-mindedly kissing her shoulder.

“Here you go, love.”

Sophia wipes her hand and takes one of the frappochinos off of Harry. For the first time Harry notices how big the kitchen actually is. So far he hasn't seen all that much about thee flat but it must be fucking expensive. The kitchen cupboards are covered in dark wood, the handles made out of shiny silver metal. The appliances are set into one of the walls next to the window. All three of them take their drinks and move to the breakfast bar. Harry shrugs out of his coat and drops is over the back of the chair. Both Eleanor and Sophia eyebrows raise as they take in Harry's outfit. He is dressed in ripped back skinny jeans and boots, nothing too exciting. His shirt, however, is made from yellow see through lace. He hadn't bother to button up more than three buttons, leaving the top half hanging open and exposing his collarbones and chest. He had spent hours trying to decide what to wear before deciding on this shirt, which he had bought at a thrift store. Supposedly it is a genuine Burberry shirt that someone threw away because it had a tiny rip in one of the short sleeves. Harry just stitched it back together and rolled up the sleeves to cover his messy work.

“Harry, you look … brilliant” Eleanor gasped and Harry just smiled at her. He knows how he looks. It might make him sound conceited but he knows how fucking delicious he looks.

“You really do.” Sophie adds.

“Thanks, both of you.”

For a while they just grin at each other.

“Thanks so much for these, again. We've been preparing no stop since this morning.” Eleanor closes her eyes as she sips the coffee.

“How many people are you even expecting? And what have you been preparing?”

Harry admits he hasn't been to many parties. It's not that he didn't want to go, he just didn't get the chance often. The parties he has been to were almost always been fairly under planned. Take the flat of a friend whose parents are away, (get someone to) buy a shit ton of alcohol, some snacks, invite all your friends. Clean up the next day. There usually wasn't much work involved before the actual party.

“We just invited the usual people, you know?” Sophia smiles at him

Harry doesn't know but he keeps quiet.

“And we were preparing the food and drinks and stuff. There isn't that much left to do actually. El has almost finished with the food. I think we still need to make pizza?” Eleanor nods. “And I've pretty much fixed the punch. Just a few more fruits to add.”

After they all finish their coffees Sophia goes back to cutting fruit and Harry helps Eleanor with the pizza. He has always loved cooking and baking and after admitting to Eleanor that he used to work in a bakery she gladly lets him prepare the dough. Together they finish well before the first people are expected to arrive. Harry chats with both Eleanor and Sophia and learns that he gets along really well with both of them. He learns that they are both 19 and have been dating for about 4 years. They moved into this flat together this year which their parents are paying for. They both study management, Eleanor French on top of that. Right now they are talking about opening a clothing store that isn't sorted by gender but rather by style. Harry promises to be one of their first customers. Who doesn't love to stick it to the heteronormativity and gender binary?

When the doorbell rings Eleanor gets up to open it. Harry is busy texting Niall to let him know the address and time of the party. While Niall still doesn't really get why Harry is not telling the rest of their friends about it, he held his promise and did not tell Zayn about it. Instead he and Zayn spend the afternoon in the music department, doing music major stuff Harry assumes. If he is being honest, for Niall's sake he hopes there was some flirting involved at least. Niall's blushy smiles whenever Zayn pays attention to him are hilariously cute. Liam and Louis think so too. In fact, Harry, Liam and Louis have taken to discussing Zayn and Niall almost all of the time they are together. It's not like the two of them are listening anyway. As soon as they have found something to talk about (so all of the time) they are oblivious to the world around them. Still, they both swear there isn't anything going on. Nothing, just a bit of harmless crushing. Yeah right, Harry thinks. He can see the heart eyes in Niall's eyes.

When Eleanor comes back, Harry is more than surprised. He had not really thought about who would come to the party but Louis and Liam would be the last people he had guessed. Still, the two of them follow Eleanor into the kitchen, their cheeks just a touch rosy from the cold.

“Harry?” Liam sees him first.

“Hey. Didn't know you'd be here as well.”

“Yeah me neither.”

Sophia looks back and forth between them with a smile.

“Oh, you know each other?”

“Jup. Harry's one of my oldest friends.”

“Niall is on his way too by the way.” Harry turns to Louis as a wicked smile begins to form.

“I guess I'd better text Zayn then. He didn't want to come but I'm pretty sure a blonde Irishman will sway him.” Louis smiles back.

Harry sends a quick text to let Niall know that Zayn will be here too. Just in case he would like to rethink his outfit if Zayn is going to be there.

For the first time since Louis has arrived, Harry looks at what he is wearing. Like him, Louis had ditched the loose sweatpants and hoodies he had been wearing all week for something more fancy. Instead of nicking one of his room mate's too big for him shirts, Louis is wearing a tight fitting white graphic tee with an unbuttoned denim shirt on top. His black rolled up black skinny jeans show off his delicate ankles. Did Harry just say delicate? He meant … manly? Ah, what the hell. Louis has nice ankles. Harry can appreciate that. It's like Zayn' face. It would be lying to deny the beauty of them. Another difference to Louis' usual appearance is the way his hair is styled. During the week, he wouldn't do much about it really, just brush through is once after showering and then let it fall flat without any product in it. Today his hair equals the artful mess he had going on the party where Harry met him. Queue images of how that meeting went going through Harry's head. Harry would like to say that he does not blush. He really does. To steer the conversation away from his flaming cheeks, he turns instead to Eleanor.

“So, how did you and Louis meet? I didn't know you knew each other.”

Both Eleanor and Sophia giggle at the same time.

“Oh that's a funny story actually.” Eleanor says. “I kinda met Louis at a party last year and we were playing Never Have I Ever and I said that I had never kissed a guy, right?” she looks over at Louis before continuing. “Our cheeky Louis over here volunteered to be my first or something and Sophia thought it would be hilarious so I ended up kissing him.”

Louis mumbled something not intelligible.

“I think he is still a bit upset about the fact that his kiss didn't turn me straight. Or at least bi.”

Even Louis joins in laughing with them. It could have stayed like that, everyone all giggly, but Liam feels the need to turn to Louis.

“I totally forgot about that. Seems like you make it a habit to snog people that aren't into your gender, right?”

For a moment there is confusion written all over Louis' features before he turns around the room at catches Harry. There is choked sound coming from his mouth just as he realises what Liam is going on about. Then, almost instantly his face and neck flush a deep red colour, nothing like the rosé he had been spotting from the cold. He keeps staring at Harry, as if waiting for Harry to say something. What is he supposed to do exactly? All he can think of now is how similar Louis' gasp just now sounded like the noises he was making while kissing Harry. Harry's dick takes the moment to make an appearance, making his impossible tight jeans even tighter. Harry dares to look around the room of people but neither of them seem to be aware of just how much him and Louis are struggling. Because that is what is going on. He is struggling to not get hard of the memory of him kissing a bloke. When did that happen? He needs some air. Right now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The actual party will be happening in the next chapter. There will be a bit of cute ziall moments going on so you can look forward to that.   
> xx


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knooooooow this is so late. I don't even have an excuse. I'm just terrible at updating.  
> I won't make any promises on when the next chapter will be up. I'm trying for rather sooner than later.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading this, I love every single one of you.
> 
> Special thanks also to Billy! Without them the chapter would have been much different. 
> 
> xx

Harry quickly locks the bathroom door and splashes cold water onto his face. He is not sure whether this actually helps but he has seen it on the telly quite often. People do appear to be calmer afterwards. He repeats the process a couple of times more before he decides that, no, this does not work in real life. At least not on him. For a moment, he tells himself to breathe. It's not like it's the worst thing that could happen, right? So, he got a bit over excited thinking about Louis? That happens to a lot of people. It doesn't have to mean anything. And so what, if Louis is a guy. He kissed him while being drunk and high. His brain is probably just confused because objectively speaking it was a bloody good kiss. His brain doesn't know what to do with that information. It has nothing to do with physical attraction. He knows for a fact that if his eyes were blindfolded and he'd be kissing a girl he'd enjoy it no matter what she looks like, right? This is sort of the same thing. It's all just his brain and body reacting to stimulus.

Harry checks his crotch with his hand. At least the panic had one good thing, his excitement seems to have died down. If he dries his face and waits for another minute or so, he should be ready to go back there and pretend he just went to the bathroom. That's not an odd thing to do. The others probably didn't even notice much. Harry takes a few calming breaths more; In through his nose, out through his mouth. That's one thing they do in yoga classes, right? Or was it the other way around? He really should have taken a class, not just looked in through the window.

When Harry re-enters the kitchen, Louis seems to be missing. Good, Harry thinks for a moment. Liam is giving him an odd look but doesn't say anything. Harry knows that if he keeps this up all night, Liam will pull him aside. He is a worrier, Liam. Always has been in fact. Niall was right when he called Liam "everyone's favourite daddy". That's a bit how Liam acts. Or maybe more like a concerned mother. Always looking out for you but at the same time always there when you need him. He never judges you and would probably help you bury a body. And then give you lecture about it afterwards. But still, he is someone you can count on.

Harry doesn’t see Louis for a while after that. He helps Eleanor with some last-minute preparations and talks to Sophia some more. She promises to show him some clothing designs she and Eleanor came up with last night. After that it isn’t long until Niall shows up and with him, Zayn. Both are giggling about something when they enter. Harry is glad for the distraction, it gives him something to focus on other than the fact that Louis still hasn’t returned for wherever he has gone off to. Niall has obviously changed into something different than what he usually is wearing. He looks a bit like Zayn dressed him if Harry is being honest. On a normal day, Niall would just wear blue skinny jeans with a shirt and some hoodie or jacket. Today, he grabbed some black ripped jeans Harry is sure that belong to him actually, if the way they loosely bunch around Niall’s skinny legs is any indication. He has paired the jeans with a simple grey t-shirt and a leather jacket Harry has never seen before. It might even be Zayn’s. Harry needs to get behind this. There must be a story there.

“Hey Niall.” He calls across the room, making Niall jump. “Good to see you. And my jeans.”

Niall at least has the decency to blush at least.

“Oh yeah. I needed something to go with the rest of the outfit. Zayn’s idea.”

_No shit._

Zayn smiles silently from where he is standing behind Niall, dressed in a similar get up. If they are wearing matching outfits already now, how will they be once they actually start dating?

“Looks good. I want my skinnies back after this, just so you know.”

“What? Scared I’m gonna rip them?”

Harry snorts. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

“You’re just a big baby.” Niall looks around for a moment before asking. “Where are Liam and Louis?”

Harry lowers his head, playing with the hem of his shirt as he tries to hide his cheeks heating up. Blushing is a thing he does now, apparently. He’d better get used to it.

“How should I know?” More blood is rushing to his face. “It’s not like he is my boyfriend or anything.” He says, followed by nervous laughter.

He regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth. They might have been a lot harsher than he would have even wanted to sound. And a lot more defensive. A simple “I don’t know.” would have been more than enough. Niall seems to think so too as he looks at him with surprise in his face and even Zayn raises one of his perfectly plucked eyebrows.

“Okay,” Niall draws out the last syllable.  “not your boyfriend. Got it. I’m gonna go look for them.”

Harry is left alone with Zayn in the kitchen for a moment before Zayn gives Harry a look, snorts and follows Niall with a shaking head. Not knowing what to do with himself Harry keeps himself busy pushing the ladle through the punch bowl, pretending to be stirring it. He needs to get his thoughts and body back under control before he starts drinking and loses the last shred of dignity he still has. If he even has anything of it left.

The party kicks off about half an hour later when more and more students arrive, some of them already in various stages of drunkenness. Harry recognises some of the face from the last party and talks to a few people. Most of it is polite small talk. Hiw _hHhh_ _How was your week? How do you like your classes?_ A lot of them promise to call the following week to go out for lunch or coffee. Harry knows they never will, but that is okay. He has his group of friends and enough course work that he wouldn’t even know when he would have the time to meet all those people. When there is nothing else to do, Harry makes his way into the kitchen to finally get started on getting drunk. It seems like alcohol is the way he will make it through this party. The kitchen has been made into a small serve-yourself-bar and it seems like a lot of people have brought some bottles of alcohol with them and just put them on the table next to the punch. Harry takes one of the plastic cups and gulps down some sweet punch before refilling it, adding pieces of the cut fruit. In the living room someone has switched on the music and some dance pop song that he doesn’t know is filling his ears. Since there is nothing left for him to do in the kitchen, Harry decides to go look for his friends. It’s Saturday night and he made it through his first week of classes. He deserves to have a bit of fun.

He actually finds his friends sat on one of the sofas in the living room. Liam, Niall and Zayn all squished together on one sofa, Eleanor and Sophia cuddled up together in one armchair, Louis sitting in another one. There are four girls Harry has never met strewn over a couple of bean bags and on the coffee table in the middle of them is a bottle of Jägermeister and shot glasses.

Niall is the first one to spot him, waving the bottle of beer in his hand around, beckoning Harry to join them. A few drops of beer spray from the bottle and land on Zayn but the boy doesn’t seem to either notice or care as he is too busy smiling fondly at Niall.

“Harry! C’mon, we’re about to start.”

“Yes,” Liam turns his head to look at Harry. “Drinking game. We’ve been looking for you.”

Harry looks for a good place to sit and opts for the floor as he it seems like there is no free space. But Louis is having none of it and pats his hand on the arm rest of his chair. Thinking about his bad back, Harry gets up from the floor immediately and sits down. The arm of the chair is surprisingly comfortable and Harry can even lean back against the chair.

“Okay, what are we playing?” Harry asks.

In the days of smartphones, even drinking games have their own apps. Niall has his phone open and types in all their names. All they have to do is follow the instructions. Harry remembers the days where they used to play “Never have I ever” until they all ran out of ideas and had to find another game.

“Okay, round one.” Niall raises his voice slightly to be heard over the music as he reads. “Each person must drink twice and read their last text message out loud to the room. Louis, you start.”

There is some commotion and giggling as they all get out their phones and Zayn fills the shot glasses to the double mark. Harry sincerely hopes that the game won’t continue at this pace or else he will not make it to the library tomorrow as he had planned. He might not even make it out of bed.

They all take their shots and read out their messages, which are quite boring if Harry is being honest. Most of them had last texted their mums. A lot of them are food related

Louis: _Mum … how do you whisk? I wanna make pancakes… xxx_

Sophia: _How much alcohol goes into punch? x_

Niall: _I cant believ how cheap green beans are . .._

Harry realises that his last text was to let Niall know that Zayn will be here. Liam’s last text was to Zayn.

Harry: _turns out Liam and Louis are here as well. Zayn is on his way. Letting you know in case you want to change your outfit for him ;)_

Harry doesn’t read the last sentence out loud however. Niall’s face goes from panicked to grateful.

Liam: _Sure you don’t wanna come? Harry is here. And Niall is on his way._

When they are all done sharing their texts, Niall continues with the next instruction.

“Harry,” he reads. “Give Perrie access to your Facebook for two minutes or finish your drink.”

Harry snorts and finished the cup of punch.

“I’m sorry, I don’t even know who that is.” One of the girls on the bean bags giggles and raises her arm. “Well, you’re probably lovely but I’d rather just drink, I’m sorry.”

Niall continues.

“Decide who is the best looking person in the room, who must now drink 4 times.”

Everyone quickly agrees on Zayn who drinks his shots without even grimacing.

“Louis, take a shot without using your hands or arms. Good luck.”

Laughter fills their circle as they all try to watch Louis staring at his shot glass. Harry moves forward on his chair so he has a better view. He doesn’t think Louis will manage without spilling and while he would hate for his shirt to get ruined he also definitely wants to see it.

Louis leans forward, opens his mouth around the glass and tilts his head back, hollowing his cheeks just a bit to keep the glass from sliding out. There is more laughing in their group and Zayn mimes giving a blowjob at Louis. Louis just sets the glass back on the table and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before flipping Zayn off. Harry cannot stop staring at Louis for a while afterwards.

The game continues giving instructions and they keep drinking until Zayn is asks for a smoke break. They decide on one last question before taking a break.

“So, last one. And it is a good one. Everyone who has kissed someone in the group before, drink.”

Eleanor and Sophia exchange smiles before clinking their shot glasses together. No surprise there. Harry and Louis both awkwardly reach for the bottle to refill their glasses. What surprises Harry is that both Zayn and Liam drink as well. None of the girls on the bean bags is drinking and neither is Niall. Harry looks at Louis who also seems to be focused on taking a look around their group. Which means unless Liam and Zayn had kissed Eleanor or Sophia, Liam and Zayn had kissed each other.

Before Harry can ask about it, Zayn gets up and heads towards the balcony. Louis takes one last look at Harry and follows him. Both Eleanor and Sophia leave to talk to some of their other guests after spending the last hour with just the group and the drunk girls on the bean bags get up to go do whatever it is drunk girls at parties do. Harry looks over towards Niall and Liam on the couch. Niall is staring intently at his empty bottle of beer, halfway through tearing down the label. Liam seems to be really interested in his phone.

"You kissed Zayn?" Harry blurts out before moving from his chair to the sofa. He is not bothered by it, but he still has a sinking feeling in his stomach. He thought something like that was the kind of thing Liam would tell him. Especially after his kiss with Louis.

Niall keeps playing with the paper in his hands but Harry can tell that he is listening carefully.

"You're making this bigger than it actually is, I can see it on your face, Harry." Liam smiles. "We just made out once, last year. It was just fun."

"Why didn't you tell me? Especially when I was freaking out about Louis?"

Liam keeps looking between Niall and Harry for a second.

"Just tell me Liam."

"Okay," Liam takes a deep breath. "I didn't tell you because you were freaking out. I didn't think it would have helped the situation."

"How? You could have just told me that you kissed a guy once too and it doesn't mean anything. I would have felt much better."

"But it did mean something."

Niall whips up his head and looks at Liam. Harry just stares for a moment while the words truly hit his head.

"It meant something? You and Zayn ...?"

Liam shakes his head.

"Not like that. There is nothing going on between me and Zayn but ... I liked kissing him. I like kissing guys."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Harry doesn't know what to say if he is being honest. Thankfully he doesn't need to as Niall throws himself at Liam and hugs him.

"Welcome to the club!"

"Thanks. I've never actually told anyone before. It's been in my head for months and I didn't know how to tell people, you know?"

Finally Harry remembers how words are formed.

"Well, I hope you know this changes nothing for me. Still my best friend and all that."

Liam laughs.

"I wasn't worried about that. That's not why I didn't tell you. I wasn't sure about it in the beginning either. And then when I was I didn't know when to tell you. It's not like it just naturally comes up in conversation, you know?"

Niall pats Liam on the head once, then announces that he has to go pee and leaves. Harry stays behind and continues looking at Liam.

"So... you like kissing guys? You are ...?"

"Bi." Liam finishes for him.

"Oh. So you still like girls?"

"Yeah. It's not like that suddenly changed. I just realised that I just don't like only girls. I never really thought it was an option before, you know?"

"You thought you had to be straight, since you liked girls?"

"Yeah, exactly. I kinda thought it was a binary system. But it's not. And sometimes it takes you some time to figure it out."

Harry doesn't say anything, too lost in his thoughts. If he is being honest with himself, he had always thought sexuality is something you just know. He never given it much thought because he knew he liked girls.

“It’s okay if it doesn’t mean anything, just know that it is also okay if it does.” Liam says before he leaves Harry as well.

After a while Harry gets up in search for more alcohol. He might have a lot of shots already but he is in need of something to do. It’s a party, what else is he supposed to do. He mixes himself something sweet and sugary in the kitchen and talks to some more people. Making small talk is something he knows he is good at and no matter how confused he is, that he can always do. Eleanor and Sophia’s friends are diverse and funny and Harry is in his element. He talks to a guy who is excited about starting hormone replacement therapy soon and Harry wishes him the best of luck.

It’s well after midnight when Harry stumbles into Louis after coming out of the loo. Louis just stares at him for a moment.

“Harry!” he shouts excitedly.

“Oops.” Harry quickly apologises.

“Hi.” Louis giggles. Then he grabs Harry by his wrist and drags him into one of the nearest rooms.

“I need to talk to you.”

The room they find themselves in looks to be a bedroom, Harry can’t tell whether it’s Eleanor and Sophia’s room or a guest room, the lights coming through the open blinds being the only light source. Harry can hardly see Louis in front of him. He is pretty much confused about what Louis needs to talk to him about. That is until Louis steps closer.

“I’ve been thinking about you all week, okay?” Louis looks at him with a spark in his eyes. Louis is drunk, Harry can tell, and he should probably be stopping him before he does something he regrets. If Harry was sober, he might have done it. As it is, Harry can only stare back at.

“About the kiss. About the way you felt under my fingertips.” Louis takes another step closer. “I know you felt something too. I’ve been going senseless all week but I see the way you look at me. I don’t know what this is but I just want to … I don’t know. Figure it out I guess.”

“What do you– ”

Louis pulls Harry forward against him. Harry stumbles a bit before their lips connect. It's a bit harsh and awkward for a second before both men can rearrange their balance and really get control back over their actions. Harry's hands fly to Louis' face, cradling him and pulling him closer as he connects their lips again and again. Louis moves to Harry's hips, fisting his hands in Harry's shirt to pull him closer and closer. It's desperate, that's the only way to describe it. The way Louis’ lips slide over his, starting out just a bit hesitant, as if he cannot believe what he is doing. Soon enough thought he starts getting more bold, nibbling at Harry’s bottom lip, letting his tongue run over it. He is pushing closer to Harry and Harry has to take a step back until his back hits a wall. A low breathy gasp escapes him when Louis’ body crashes against him. Louis takes advantages of Harry opening his mouth and lets the tip of his tongue slip in. He opens his mouth farther, giving Louis the unspoken consent he has been waiting for. They slow their kiss down and take the time to explore each other’s mouths. Harry moves his hands from Louis' face to his hips and uses them to pull Louis against himself. Louis is desperate to hold on to something and finds himself grabbing Harry by the shoulders and hair, angling his head to give him better access. He pulls on Harry's curls and Harry can’t stop the moan escaping his lips. They keep kissing, their heavy breathing being the only sound filling the room. He cannot tell how long the kiss goes on for, he loses complete track of time. It could be just seconds or minutes. Somewhere along the kiss changes again and grows more heated. Louis slots one of his thighs between Harry’s legs and the friction it generates on Harry's hard cock makes him moan. He does not know when he had gotten hard. Harry rocks his hips up involuntarily. He does not seem to be the only one in this predicament though, he can feel the outline of Louis’ hard cock rutting against his thigh. Louis will be the death of him. Harry can’t remember a time where he was this turned on before. It should feel weird. It really should. He still cannot do anything to stop himself from rubbing his crotch against Louis’ thigh. It is not enough to get him off but it is enough to drive him wild. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that at any point someone could come into the room but he still doesn’t stop. Harry moves his lips from Louis’ mouth in order to kiss down his neck. He needs to suck and bite or he will... he doesn’t know what he will. Louis lets out a whimper at first, already missing Harry’s lips but that whimper turns into a high pitched moan the second Harry's teeth bite the soft skin of his neck. Harry is doing his best to minimalize the force of the bite. He makes sure not to suck too hard afterwards as well, not wanting to leave visible marks. He still has a bit of rationality left to realise leaving visible marks on Louis would generate questions. Louis keeps moaning onto Harry’s ear and the sound goes straight to his cock. With his last shred of will power Harry pushes Louis away from him.

"Stop." he breathes. "We ... need to stop."

He opens his eyes to look at Louis. The image does nothing to soothe his dirty thoughts.

Louis looked truly edible. His lips are dark pink and puffy, wetness reflection the low light. He has his eyes half closed, as if it would be too much to keep them open. Like Harry, his whole body is heaving with the force of his heavy breathing. Harry can see some dark marks on Louis’ neck. Oops? Louis’ jeans do nothing to hide his erection.

"I ... fuck." Harry whispers.

“Yeah.. same.” Louis puts his hand next to Harry’s head.

Harry runs his hands through his hair. He is feeling dizzy and hot all over. He is not quite sure what happened. Well, he is but his brain is still catching up on it all. His jeans are uncomfortably tight right now and Harry resists the urge to adjust his pants. Louis is still close to him and all Harry can smell is Louis, his shower gel mixed with just a hint of sweat. It’s addiction, to say the least. He raises one of his hands to Louis’ cheek and runs his thump over Louis’ lips which part under his skin.

“Louis..” Harry doesn’t know what he is saying. He needs something but he cannot quite name it. Words elude him as he continues to breathe Louis in.

Louis sucks the tip of Harry’s finger into his mouth for a second, running his tongue over the tip of Harry’s finger. It makes Harry’s cock twitch.

He takes a step back so he can look at Harry.

“Can I blow you?” Louis breathes out.

"Yes… No… I want ... but.." Harry has no idea what he is saying. He wants to get Louis close again but he is not sure he is ready for that. But at the same time he know that he really wants this to happen. Even if it’s a guy. Just, not right now.

“You’re right.” Louis takes another step back, to give Harry some space.

“It’s not you.” Harry starts before he realises that, actually, yes, it is Louis. “Well it is but not you, you.” He shakes his head before cursing underneath his breath. “Fuck. I’ve been so confused the whole week about that kiss. I fucking liked it okay? And I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what to do with that information.”

Harry goes to sit down in the bed on the other side of the room. Louis follows him wordlessly, both of them still somewhat out of breath.

“I’m sorry, Louis.” Harry says after a while.

“What are you apologising for?”

“I don’t even know to be honest. I like you. And I like kissing you. I just need …”

“Time.” Louis finishes for him. Harry can hear the smile in his voice.

“Yes. And I don’t want to make things awkward again between us. We’re drunk right now.”

“It’s okay, Harry. I … I don’t understand it myself either. I was always so sure of myself. And then I kissed you and now everything is like it’s upside down.”

Suddenly Harry feels exhausted. The events of the evening and the alcohol are finally catching up to him. It doesn’t help that the bed his is sitting on is so much more comfortable than his own back in his room.

“Louis, how about we just … I don’t know, go to sleep and talk about all of this tomorrow. When were sober. We can figure this out together, yeah?”

“No pretending this didn’t happen, or didn’t mean anything?”

“No,” Harry smiles, “we’ll talk about it like the adults that we are.”

Louis snorts. “Okay. Do you think we can just crash here? I don’t fancy going all the way back to campus. I’m fucking knackered.”

“I was planning on it. Eleanor and Sophia will have to drag me out of this bed if they need it.”

Harry and Louis take off their shoes, jeans and shirts. Now that they’ve talked about it, Harry doesn’t even feel weird getting undressed in front of Louis. When they are done, they climb under the big, fluffy comforter. They don’t touch but Harry still feels comfortable knowing that Louis is close to him. He falls asleep in minutes.

 


End file.
